BurmaNet News, August 26, 2008

[Editor]

August 26, 2008 Issue # 3542

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Opposition leader in Myanmar refuses food aid
Mizzima: Burma's opposition lambasts UN envoy for irrelevant 'praise' job
Narinjara: Locals arrested, tortured after police deaths
DVB: Sittwe monks’ protest disrupted by authorities
DVB: WFP assists food crisis victims in Chin state

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Three Padaung charged with human trafficking

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: FEC boosted by change in fuel sale policy
Mizzima: MAI to hire F-100 aircraft for Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur flights

GUNS
DVB: 200 more military trucks delivered from China

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Angry reaction to Samak’s 'Suu Kyi is a tool' remark

INTERNATIONAL
SHAN: Harn Yawnghwe: UN efforts deserve support

OPINION / OTHER
Inter Press Service: Suu Kyi - A living legend - Marwaan Macan-Markar
Asia Times: The UN at dead-end in Myanmar - Larry Jagan
DVB: Self-criticism and Burma’s democracy movement - Htet Aung Kyaw

ANNOUNCEMENT
Open Society Fellowship Announcement

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 26, Associated Press
Opposition leader in Myanmar refuses food aid

The detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected food
delivered to her home amid speculation that she is on a hunger strike to
protest the government's refusal to hold talks on democratic reforms.

Nyan Win, spokesman for her National League for Democracy, said Tuesday
that Aung San Suu Kyi has refused to retrieve food delivered to her home
for about two weeks.

He could not confirm whether Aung San Suu Kyi was refusing to eat, but he
said that bags of food delivered Monday to a checkpoint outside her
heavily guarded house were not picked up.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years,
and she relies on the NLD's food deliveries for sustenance.

"We still cannot confirm that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is on hunger strike. We
are very much worried about the situation especially because we have no
direct contact with her and we don't know anything about her real
situation," said Nyan Win. "Daw" is an honorific of respect used for older
women.

Nyan Win said he had heard that Aung San Suu Kyi had made some demands to
the government a few weeks ago but that he did not know what they were.

Nyo Ohn Myint, head of foreign affairs for the National League for
Democracy, which is based in neighboring Thailand, said Aung San Suu Kyi
has refused food deliveries since Aug. 15 and would continue doing so
until her demands are met.

But he could not say whether that constitutes a hunger strike, since his
group has no direct contact with the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize
laureate.

Aung San Suu Kyi told the regime that she wanted a resumption of talks
with the government on national reconciliation, the installation of a
satellite dish in her house and the freedom for her personal assistant,
Khin Win, to leave whenever she wants, he said, declining to give the
source of his information.

"If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to refuse food from her comrades, her
health will be of serious concern," the National League for Democracy said
in a statement. It called on the international community to take
"immediate action."

The news came after Aung San Suu Kyi repeatedly canceled meetings with a
United Nations special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, during his six-day visit to
Myanmar that ended Saturday. He left without seeing her.

Since then, supporters have speculated that Aung San Suu Kyi has grown
more frustrated with the UN's failure to bring about change in the
military-ruled nation.

On Sunday, Nyan Win said Gambari had wasted his time in Myanmar. He also
criticized the UN envoy for failing to meet the country's leader, General
Than Shwe, and for being unable to get any commitment from the junta to
start talks with the opposition on national reconciliation.

Nyan Win also castigated Gambari for offering to help the junta prepare
for planned 2010 elections.

Aung San Suu Kyi's party has criticized the planned polls, which follow a
constitutional referendum earlier this year that critics say was neither
free nor fair. The new Constitution guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary
seats to the military, and allows the president to hand over all power to
the military in a state of emergency.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since
1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won a general election
but was not allowed to take power by the military.

The UN has tried with little success to nudge the regime toward talks with
the opposition, hoping the top generals would respond to international
pressure to embrace national reconciliation following its violent
suppression of massive, anti-government protests in Yangon last year.

____________________________________

August 26, Mizzima News
Burma's opposition lambasts UN envoy for irrelevant 'praise' job - Zarni

Burma's main opposition party – the National League for Democracy – on
Monday lambasted the United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari for
praising the activities of the 'Tripartite Core Group' saying the diplomat
failed to see beyond the junta's projection of the situation in Burma.

Nyan Win, spokesperson for the NLD, said Gambari is out of touch with the
ground realities in Burma and his failure to resist the junta from
planning his itinerary during his trip further prevented him from getting
up close to the true situation.

Gambari said the 'Tripartite Core Group', that leads relief efforts for
cyclone victims, had provided an effective model for cooperation and
collaboration between the international community and Burma.

TCG, formed with representatives of the Burmese junta, ASEAN and the UN,
should extend beyond the humanitarian response in the areas affected by
Cyclone Nargis to include social and economic development assistance in
the rest of the country, he added.

The remarks of the Nigerian diplomat, who on Saturday concluded his
six-day visit to the country, came following his meeting with members of
the TCG August 18.

But Nyan Win said, "He [Gambari] may not know the reality as that visit
was planned and showcased by the junta. And it is impossible for him to
understand the true situation in such a short time."

Nyan Win said the UN envoy by visiting and making remarks on the
humanitarian activities has been derailed in his mission to facilitate
political dialogue between Burma's opposition groups and the government.

"We feel that he [Gambari] is trying to appease the junta so much that he
is being derailed off his main track," Nyan Win added.

Gambari, during his six-day visit to Burma, met junior ministers of the
Burmese junta but failed to meet military supremo Snr. Gen. Than Shwe as
well as detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Sources said, the UN undersecretary general for political affairs, was not
even invited to visit Burma's new jungle capital, Nay Pyi Taw, where Than
Shwe and other senior military leaders of the junta, who call themselves
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) are ensconced.

David Scott Mathieson, Burma consultant of the Human Rights Watch, said,
the military junta had used the visit of Gambari for their benefit and to
showcase their work.

"Any visiting envoy to Burma is like that. They are going to see the
things that the SPDC wants them to see. So they only see the SPDC's made
up shows," Mathieson said, apparently referring to previous UN envoys
including Razali Ismail, predecessor to Gambari who until December 2005
served as the UN Secretary General's special envoy to Burma.

"Gambari needs to look at both sides," Mathieson added.

During his visit, Gambari met NLD leaders twice and requested for a
meeting with detained Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. But the
Burmese democracy icon refused to meet him.

But the UN envoy said as a continuation to the UN's efforts, the world
body's chief Ban Ki-moon will pay a visit to the country in December.

But Nyo Ohn Myint, foreign affairs in-charge of the exiled NLD, said
Gambari or Ban Ki-moon's visit to Burma will be a waste of time unless
they are able to influence both the government and opposition to start  a
dialogue.

"I think it is high time that the UN uses diplomats that the Burmese junta
can listen to instead of wasting time by sending someone that the junta
itself does not want to meet," Nyo Ohn Myint said.

____________________________________

August 26, Narinjara News
Locals arrested, tortured after police deaths

Burmese military junta authorities arrested over 30 people in Sittwe and
subjected them to interrogations and severe torture after two riot police
personnel were killed by local youths during an altercation, said one
among the arrested.

"We were not involved in the murder but the authorities arrested us
because our homes are located near the scene of the incident in which riot
policemen were murdered.  After the arrest, the authorities severely beat
and tortured us while asking many questions about the murder," he said

The murder took place in Kathay Wra Ward in Sittwe on August 22.  Two riot
policemen were stabbed to death by local youths during an altercation. 
One victim has been identified as Sergeant Zaw Myo Tun, who died on the
spot, while another unidentified victim died later at the general hospital
in Sittwe.

Soon after the murder, the authorities arrested over 30 innocent people
from the ward on accusations that they were involved in the crime.

"The whole of my body is still paining and I am now unable to walk for
long after the riot policemen severely beat me up along with other
innocent people soon after arresting us. They tortured me whenever I
denied any involvement in the murder," he said.

People in the ward believe that the authorities know who committed the
murder but arrested the local residents in retaliation.  "The authorities
know who committed the murder because they told us that unless the real
criminals are arrested all the arrestees will continue to be detained in
the police lockup," the ward resident added.

The authorities later released the man and some of the other detainees
after a 19-year-old youth, who allegedly committed the murder of the two
riot police personnel were arrested by the police.

It was learnt that while many of the detainees were released by the
authorities after the youth was arrested, three people, including two of
the youths relatives,
remain in custody in the police lockup in Sittwe.

____________________________________

August 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Sittwe monks’ protest disrupted by authorities

A planned demonstration by monks in the Arakan state capital Sittwe was
disrupted by local authorities, according to Arakan National League for
Democracy joint secretary U Than Hlaing.

The authorities had increased the number of armed security personnel on
the streets of Sittwe but the monks decided to proceed with their
demonstration despite the heightened security presence, U Than Hlaing
said.

Forty monks gathered in the city at 1pm in an attempt to mark the first
anniversary of the demonstration against commodity price rises by 300
Sittwe monks on 24 August last year.

“The intention was to stage a memorial protest,” U Than Hlaing said.

“But the authorities got wind of the plan and so security forces turned up
suddenly and aggressively and it didn’t happen.”

Security had been further stepped up in advance of the protest after a
riot police officer was killed by a group of local youths during a clash
on 22 August at the spot where the monks gathered.

____________________________________

August 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
WFP assists food crisis victims in Chin state

The World Food Programme and the United Nations Development Programme have
been working on a programme in Chin state to help victims of the food
crisis.

WFP’s Burma country director Chris Kaye said the organisation has been
involved in joint efforts in Chin state, which has been hit by food
shortages due to the mass flowering of bamboo and rodent infestations.

“We have been working in Htantalan township and UNDP is working in Palatwa
township,” said Kaye, referring to two townships in Chin state.

“There is actually a limited capacity; it has been very difficult to get
additional resources because of the impact of Cyclone Nargis and the
attention that has been given to the millions of people in the delta.”

However, Kaye said the operation in Chin state should not impact on the
level of assistance the WFP could continue to provide in the Irrawaddy
delta.

“We have two broad programmes in Myanmar – one is for the Nargis-affected
area, it is an emergency operation,” he said.

“We have one other programme, which is for a variety of different
locations, which is a protracted relief and recovery operation which
includes Chin state as well as locations in Shan [and] Kachin [states].”

Kaye said the Burmese government had approved the operation which covered
Chin state, despite the lack of reporting on the crisis in state media.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 26, Irrawaddy
Three Padaung charged with human trafficking - Lawi Weng

Three Padaung were detained at a police station in Mae Hong Son on Sunday
charged with involvement in the trafficking of eight other Padaung
persons, a spokesperson for a Karenni anti-human trafficking group in Mae
Hong Son told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

“The police said they will continue detaining the three until they found
out who the leaders of the trafficking network were,” he said. “Then they
would prosecute the traffickers under Thai law.”

According to the spokesperson, the three suspects and the eight victims
had been in hiding in Mae Taeng District in Chiang Mai Province for more
than a month. Then, the broker decided it was too risky to keep them after
he heard that the police were investigating their disappearances and he
sent them back to Mae Hong Son.

The Karenni spokesperson said that the three suspects—two women and the
headman of Huay Sua Tao village in Mae Hong Son—are accused of involvement
in arranging to traffic the eight Padaungs to Chiang Mai to work.

The arrests follow a police investigation into the disappearance of the 11
Padaung—including four minors—more than one month ago.

The Thai authorities released the four minors on Sunday, but the four
Padaung adults were each fined 1,800 baht for traveling illegally outside
Mae Hong Son.

Often known as the “Long necks” due to the metal rings adorning their
women’s necks, ethnic Padaung refugees are not permitted to travel outside
the villages they are registered at. Many work illegally in northern
Thailand, earning salaries as low as 1,500 baht (US $44) per month.

The deputy chairman of Huay Sua Tao village said the eight people hadn’t
been paid for two months working for a Thai community handicrafts project
and this was the main reason they wanted to find employment outside their
district.

Within the Thai tourism sector, however, “long-neck” women can be a
valuable source of income for tour companies. Ten years ago, Thai police
raided a tourist village in Chiang Mai Province and charged the
businessman who ran it with holding a number of Padaung against their
will.

The Padaung community settled in Northern Thailand about 10 years ago from
Burma, where they suffered discrimination, unemployment and forced labor.

However, Thai authorities maintain a tight control on their movements.
Last year, a group of Padaung people who had already been accepted for
resettlement by Canada, New Zealand and Finland were denied the
opportunity to resettle by the Mae Hong Son authorities.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 26, Irrawaddy
FEC boosted by change in fuel sale policy - Aung Thet Wine

A decision by Burma’s military regime to allow consumers to buy up to 50
gallons of gasoline using Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) has
dramatically boosted the value of the quasi-currency, according to
business sources in Rangoon.

On August 22, the Ministry of Energy released a memo to government-owned
petrol stations authorizing them to sell large quantities of fuel to
holders of FECs. Purchases made using the local currency, the kyat, are
still limited to 2 gallons per day.

There are about 58 government petrol stations in Rangoon, Burma’s main
commercial center.

The move has had an immediate impact on the value of the FEC, which had
been plummeting due to a large influx of foreign aid in the wake of
Cyclone Nargis, which struck the country on May 2-3.

The FEC is technically equal in value to the US dollar, although on the
black market, the two units often differ substantially in kyat terms. The
FEC has fallen as low as 865 kyat in recent months, compared to a rate of
1,190 kyat to the dollar. Since last week, however, the FEC has recovered
to the 1,100-kyat level.

“I had 30,000 FECs on Friday, and I could sell them all after the
government sent out its memo allowing people to use them to buy petrol,”
said a businessman in Rangoon.

The brisk trade in FECs on Rangoon’s illegal exchange markets looks set to
continue, said currency dealers, who predicted that the unit would rise
further for the foreseeable future.

This should be welcome news to UN aid agencies operating in Burma. The UN
has been hit by controversy over foreign exchange losses resulting from
government rules requiring aid money to be deposited in the state-owned
Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank in dollars and withdrawn in FECs.

The nearly equal value of US dollars and FECs can help solve the problems
faced by the UN and international humanitarian organizations that lost
money based on the unequal exchange rate, said a lecturer at the Rangoon
Institute of Economics.

Observers noted, however, that the rise in the value of the FEC appears to
be largely driven by speculation, since few people have been using them to
actually purchase fuel.

“No one has come to buy petrol with FECs,” said a sales manager at a
government petrol station in Rangoon’s Ahlone Township. “Only one or two
people have come in so far to buy diesel [with FECs].”

Petrol stations in Rangoon sell gasoline for 3.75 FECs a gallon, while a
gallon of diesel costs 4.20 FECs. The government has also promised to
change these rates to match global market prices.

The recent relaxation of restrictions on fuel purchases has played havoc
with Rangoon’s illegal petrol market.

“Our market has been destroyed. We can’t sell the petrol that we have
stored,” said a black market petrol dealer. “The price that our customers
give us is very low. Before, we got about 5,100 kyat per gallon of diesel,
but now we get less than 4,400 kyat. Even at this price, it’s difficult to
find customers.”

Some black market dealers said that if the current conditions continue,
the illegal trade in fuel could collapse completely.

“If the government continues to allow people to buy petrol with FECs, the
illegal market could disappear,” said a petrol dealer in Rangoon’s
Kamaryut Township. “We just have to wait and see how long the government
can keep this going.”

A Rangoon businessman who owns a long-distance bus service said that
government should open up money exchange centers to make it easier for
them to buy fuel with FECs.

“It would be more convenient for us if we had legal money changers in the
city,” he said.  “Then the black market would disappear.”

On August 25, the government was selling a gallon of gasoline for 4 FECs
and a gallon of diesel for 4.40 FECs. One FEC is equal to 1,120 kyat and a
US dollar is equal to 1,220 kyat at the current black market exchange
rates.

____________________________________

August 26, Mizzima News
MAI to hire F-100 aircraft for Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur flights - Nem Davies

The Myanmar Airways International, one of the few international airlines
in Burma will hire a Fokker-100 aircraft from AirBagan, another airline,
for its Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur flights.

MAI's Marketing executive in Rangoon told Mizzima on Tuesday that the
company will hire a 36-seat F-100 aircraft from AirBagan on a three-month
contract starting August end to November.

"Currently we are facing a shortage of aircrafts that's why we have
decided to hire for a three month period. We will look for other aircrafts
from December 1. In fact, we are filling in with aircraft from AirBagan
while we are finding replacements," the executive said.

MAI, which operates international flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and
Bangkok, had earlier hired a M-82 aircraft from Thailand's 12Go and used
it for its flights from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur.

Sources said MAI will use the F-100 aircraft in place of the M-82 to
operate flights between Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, as MAI has to terminate
its contract with 12Go over problems related to insurance.

"We have to stop using the 12Go aircraft because of insurance related
problems, which is not our problem. But since we do not want to terminate
our operation, and as AirBagan agreed to hire out to us, we are going to
use the AirBagan aircraft for the flights," the executive said.

AirBagan, which in June suspended its Rangoon-Singapore flights for three
months, said they have agreed to hire its F-100 aircraft to the
semi-government owned MAI.

But an official of AirBagan declined to provide further details of the
contract between the two airlines saying she was not authorized to speak
to the press.

AirBagan is owned by business tycoon Tayza, who reportedly has a close
relationship with the ruling junta supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe.

Following the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in September 2007 by
the military junta, Tayza was named one among the many cronies of the
junta that supported its rule, by the United States and is among the list
of people who are barred from entering the US.

Hit by the tightening economic sanctions imposed by the US, AirBagan n
October 19, 2007 announced suspension of its flights between Rangoon and
Singapore.

____________________________________
GUNS

August 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
200 more military trucks delivered from China

Over 200 more military trucks have arrived in the town of Ruili on the
China-Burma border, the latest consignment of the 3500 trucks to be sent
to the Burmese junta by the Chinese government.

According to merchants and a military analyst on the border, the FAW-brand
trucks will now be deployed to military and police units across Burma.

Chinese-made military trucks have been used widely in Burma by the
military and more recently by the police – Rangoon residents have said
they have seen FAW and Lan Jian branded trucks with Burma Police emblems
on them driving around the city.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a military analyst on the China-Burma border, said the
trucks would help the regime meet the needs of its expanding forces.

"The trucks will be sent off to Mandalay from here, and then on to the
military garages which will send them out to various military units," Aung
Kyaw Zaw said.

"The government is now expanding a lot of military battalions and they
need to provide four or five trucks to each new battalion."

Aung Kyaw Zaw said the sale of the trucks would benefit both the Chinese
and the Burmese governments.

"China will not do anything without political or economic benefits – no
one will buy these trucks in China any more and they had been recycling a
lot of them," he said.

"Now they don't have to just dump them on the scrapheap – but instead they
can sell them to the Burmese government."

Cyclone victims in Irrawaddy delta have also reported seeing the trucks in
use delivering relief items.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 26, Irrawaddy
Angry reaction to Samak’s 'Suu Kyi is a tool' remark - Saw Yan Naing

Burmese opposition politicians and some political observers and
commentators have strongly rejected Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s
description of  Aung San Suu Kyi as a “political tool” of the West.

Samak made the controversial comment to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari when the
two met in Bangkok as the Nigerian diplomat was returning from his latest
failed mission to Burma.

Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. (Photo: Reuters)
“Europe uses Aung San Suu Kyi as a political tool,” Samak told Gambari.
“If it's not related to Aung San Suu Kyi, you can have deeper discussions
with Myanmar [Burma].”

Samak also told reporters after meeting Gambari: “Efforts to engage the
military regime would be more productive if Aung San Suu Kyi was left off
the agenda.”

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) rejected the Thai
premier’s comments as inappropriate.

“As the leader of a country, he should not give such comments about the
political affairs of other countries,” said NLD Spokesman Nyan Win.

Nyan Win accused Samak of favoring the Burmese regime and ignoring the
Burmese people.

Kavi Chongkittavorn, senior editor of the Bangkok English-language daily
newspaper The Nation said, “I think Samak’s comment is ridiculous. And he
has tarnished Thailand’s reputation as the chairman of the Asean (the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

“He [Samak] doesn’t even understand the situation in Burma. He has a very
sadistic attitude in attacking whoever disagrees with him. Look at the
manner he attacks the Thai media everyday.”

A Burmese ethnic leader, Cin Sian Thang, chairman of the Zomi National
Congress in Rangoon, accused Samak of “insulting Burmese people.”

Cin Sian Thang charged that Samak “doesn’t support the formation of
democracy in Burma.”

A well-known Burmese politician and former ambassador to China in the
1970s, Thakin Chan Htun, said in Rangoon that Samak’s remarks were based
on Thailand’s business interests in Burma, which were more important to
him than democratic reform.

Although Gambari failed to meet any top Burmese leader or Aung San Suu Kyi
on his latest visit, the UN denied the mission was a failure.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s deputy spokeswoman,
Marie Okabe, said in New York on Monday: “One should not make a judgment
on the process based on each individual visit.”

During his Bangkok stopover, Gambari urged Samak to continue his support
for the UN mission to break the political deadlock in Burma.

Gambari is scheduled to visit Indonesia before returning to New York,
where Okabe said he would report to Ban Ki-moon on his latest visit to
Burma.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 25, Shan Herald Agency for News
Harn Yawnghwe: UN efforts deserve support

Current UN operations in Burma, despite varied outcomes, are worth solid
support from the people of Burma whose needs are such any assistance, big
or small, is a blessing, according to Brussels-based Burma activist Harn
Yawnghwe.

“The UN is the one of the few friends we have,” he said yesterday.

Speaking to the meeting of border-based Tai Coordination Committee (TCC)
that was formed last January as part of the joint struggle to set up a
Shan State representative body, he spoke highly of Ibrahim Gambari,
Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and Tomas Ojea
Quintana, the new UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma, who had
recently concluded their separate visits to the military-ruled country.

“Mr Gambari is considered an old hand in dealing with military dictators,
his country also having been under military rule,” said 60-year Harn,
Director of Euro Burma Office (EBO). “Mr Quintana is also a veteran human
rights activist. They deserve all the support and advice that we can
give.”

Both have been lambasted by activists and opposition politicians alike for
their “soft approach” to Burma’s ruling generals.

Harn urged the TCC members, led by Peunkham Payakwong and Ms Hseng Noung,
to consider the consequences of the alternative. “As long as the UN has a
role in the Burma affairs, there is hope,” he pondered. “Once it runs out
of role, the country will become practically out of sight and out of
hearing to the rest of the world.”

Harn Yawnghwe is one of the surviving sons of the Sao Shwe Thaike, former
Prince of Yawnghwe and later the first President of Burma (1948-1952). He
died under mysterious circumstances a few months after being detained at
Insein following the 1962 military coup det’at. His late mother Sao Hearn
Hkam, the Mahadevi of Yawnghwe, also served as a Member of Parliament and
later President of the Shan State War Council (1964-68).

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 26, Inter Press Service
Suu Kyi - A living legend - Marwaan Macan-Markar

Nyo Ohn Myint still remembers the moment, 20 years ago, when the legend of
Aung San Suu Kyi began. He was there when she gave a stirring speech and
became the symbol of hope for a country under the oppressive grip of
military rule since 1962.

The then history teacher at Rangoon University was in a convoy of five
vehicles that had taken Suu Kyi, on the morning of Aug. 26, 1988, from her
colonial-era home in the Burmese city to a public meeting in front of the
great, gold-topped Shwedagon pagoda.

It was slow going, Nyo Ohn Myint, then 25, recalls. They had taken an hour
to cover the three-mile distance. And that first major public appearance
for Suu Kyi gained significance in the wake of the brutal crackdown over
two weeks before when Burmese troops had shot to death some 3,000 unarmed
people protesting against the military dictatorship. That Aug. 8 protest
drew hundreds of thousands of people, the largest crowds since
anti-government demonstrations had begun earlier that year.

The crowds had swelled to nearly 500,000 to hear Suu Kyi, then 43, who was
only known as the daughter of Burma’s independence hero, Gen. Aung San,
and an occasional visitor to the country from Oxford where she was living
with her British academic husband and raising a family. Nyo Ohn Myint
stood on a side stage and watched Suu Kyi establish her political
credentials in Burmese.

That day she emerged ‘’as the person who could lead our country,’’ the
former confidant of Suu Kyi said during a telephone interview from the
northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. ‘’She impressed the crowds and was
totally committed to take on the political challenge of dealing with the
military regime.’’

Other student activists who were in the vanguard of the 1988
anti-government protests feel likewise about Suu Kyi’s debut on Burma’s
political landscape. ‘’She gave people hope with her speech,’’ says Myint
Myint San, then a 22-year-old final year botany student at Rangoon
University. ‘’She did a tremendous job to help people understand what
democracy means. And she dared to speak to the army and confront (then
dictator) Gen. Ne Win.’’

In the days that followed, the tapes of her speech were in high demand.
‘’People kept playing it again and again,’’ Myint Myint San told IPS.
‘’People began to talk of Burma getting its second independence after we
got our first when the British (colonisers) left (in 1948).’’

It was a dramatic turn of events for a woman who had come home in March
1988 to care of her sick mother and with no thought of political activism
on her mind. ‘’When I returned home to Burma in 1988 to nurse my sick
mother, I was planning on starting a chain of libraries in my father’s
name. A life of politics held no attraction to me,’’ she said in a 1995
interview with ‘Vanity Fair’. ‘’But the people of my country were
demanding for democracy, and as my father’s daughter, I felt I had a duty
to get involved.’’

Yet, two decades later, the hope for a new Burmese independence -- free of
military oppression -- appears remote. The junta remains firmly in
control, with a tighter grip on the political landscape than in 1988. And
Suu Kyi’s democratic mission has been forced to the margins.

But that has not diminished Suu Kyi’s stature as a democracy icon in the
non-violent mould of Mahatma Gandhi. It has come at great personal
sacrifice, though, given the over 13 of the past 19 years she has spent
under house arrest, and the harsh limits the junta placed on her meetings
with supporters and family members.

She was vindicated in 1990 when a new party she led, the National League
for Democracy (NLD), won with a huge majority at a parliamentary election
that the junta refused to recognise. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel
Peace prize, the first among 40-odd international awards she has won. And
in the years since, international attempts to nudge Burma towards
political reform have had to turn to the charismatic Suu Kyi -- detained
or free-- to ensure credibility and public support.

‘’She has become the rallying point for the democracy movement in Burma.
She has contributed tremendously to the growth of democratic culture in
the past 20 years,’’ says Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst
living in exile in Thailand. ‘’Her struggle has put Burma’s political
problems and its suffering on the world map.’’

Take her out of the picture and the NLD will be nothing, he explains in an
interview. ‘’It is also true of the Burmese democracy movement: it is
likely to lose its momentum if she is not in the scene.’’

Her two decades in Rangoon have also helped build bridges between the
majority Burman community and the South-east Asian country’s many ethnic
communities, 17 of which had rebel movements fighting separatist campaigns
against the Burmese troops. Leaders of these ethnic communities have
confirmed that reconciliation between the majority Burmans and non-Burman
minorities is possible through dialogue with Suu Kyi.

They relate to her views of a democratic Burma that she has articulated
over the years in her speeches and writings. ‘’When we ask for democracy,
all we are asking is that our people should be allowed to live in
tranquility, under the rule of law, protected by institutions which will
guarantee our rights, the rights that will enable us to maintain our human
dignity, to heal the long festering wounds and to allow love and courage
to flourish,’’ she is once reported to have said. ‘’Is that such a very
unreasonable demand?’’

____________________________________

August 26, Asia Times
The UN at dead-end in Myanmar - Larry Jagan

While the United Nations heaps praise on Myanmar's ruling junta for its
collaborative spirit in dealing with the Cyclone Nargis disaster, the
military regime has made it clear that cooperation stops when it comes to
UN attempts to mediate a political breakthrough in the country.

UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari's latest mission to break the
deadlock between the military junta and detained opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi ended in failure over the weekend. His ongoing efforts to
establish a dialogue between the two sides collapsed and the diplomat left
the country embarrassingly empty-handed.

Even Aung San Suu Kyi, the charismatic leader of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), refused to see him during this trip, although he had met
her on all previous visits. More crucially, Gambari, a former Nigerian
foreign minister, also failed to meet any senior members of the country's
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

"It's clearly the end of the road for Gambari - his role as an
interlocutor is finished if he is unable to talk directly to either Aung
San Suu Kyi or [junta leader] Than Shwe," said a Western diplomat based in
Yangon. "He has no more cards to play."

Gambari's failure raises doubts about the UN's future role in Myanmar's
political impasse and perhaps other conflict resolution efforts around the
world. In an exclusive interview with Asia Times Online earlier this year
Gambari said: "It is our job, and a continuing challenge at the UN to make
the impossible possible, and will continue my efforts at mediation
regardless."

He added: "Nonetheless, I sometimes wonder whether it is realized that if
I fail, and the UN fails, this would have negative consequences for the
role of the organization in terms of mediation, conflict prevention and
peaceful resolution of conflicts, not only in [Myanmar] but throughout the
world."

Gambari was scheduled to meet Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda
and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretary general
Surin Pitsuwan after leaving Yangon. The UN had clearly hoped to build on
the goodwill generated from the joint cyclone relief efforts with ASEAN
and the Myanmar government to push its mediation agenda and encourage the
junta to make their planned transition to democracy by 2010 more credible
in the international eye.

With the UN's failure "the ball is now back in Asia's court", said
academic Win Min, an independent academic based in the northern Thai city
of Chiang Mai. "ASEAN and China have been happy to hide behind the UN. Now
they will have to take the lead to try to convince the junta to make their
roadmap credible and acceptable to the region and the international
community."

Gambari had prioritized kick-starting the stalled talks between the two
sides, pressing for the release of all political prisoners, including Aung
San Suu Kyi who is still under house arrest, and discussing the junta's
roadmap to democracy and the planned elections in 2010. He is believed to
have pressed these matters on certain government ministers, including the
prime minister, General Thein Sein, on the last day of his visit.

He also passed along a letter to Than Shwe in relation to a tentatively
planned visit by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon later this year,
according to diplomats in Yangon. "The SG has also indicated his intention
to return to Myanmar, when conditions are right, to continue his dialogue
with the Myanmar leadership," a senior UN spokesperson, Marie Okabe told
journalists earlier this week.

Gambari also met many groups nominated by the regime to brief him and
convince the envoy to endorse the regime's roadmap to democracy, which
will culminate with elections in 2010. These groups included small
splinter ethnic groups, a break-away faction of former student activists
and defectors from the NLD. He also held talks with the government-linked
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which was responsible
for the brutal attack on Aung San Suu Kyi five years ago and expected to
transform itself into a civilian political party before the planned 2010
elections.

Many of these organizations are likely to stand candidates in the
forthcoming elections, according to activists and diplomats in Yangon.
Senior junta leaders, including the top general Than Shwe, who are all
ensconced in their new capital Naypyidaw some 400 kilometers north of the
old capital, meanwhile kept Gambari at arm's length, as they have done on
his last two trips.

Iconic snub
The UN envoy originally planned to meet opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi
at the state guesthouse on Wednesday, but she did not show up, according
to NLD sources in Yangon. The UN envoy also sent two of his assistants to
her residence on Friday morning, but the pro-democracy leader did not
respond.

"She's making a point - that she is no longer willing to be wheeled out
like a circus act just so the regime can convey a bogus impression of
'dialogue'," according to a Western diplomat based in Yangon.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is refusing to see the UN envoy before he sees a senior
representative of the SPDC," an opposition source close to the detained
leader told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity. "She feels there
is no point in meeting Gambari at the moment, as he has nothing from the
generals to report or offer," he said.

To certain Asian diplomats, though, Aung San Suu Kyi's actions were an
affront. "It's un-Asian to let the envoy wait in vain for her to show up,"
said a Japanese diplomat, who closely follows Myanmar. "It seems unusually
rude, to the extent that it gives the impression of being insensitive."

It will only serve to further undermine Gambari's credibility and
strengthen the regime's belief that Aung San Suu Kyi is "ill-tempered and
uncompromising", the diplomat added. Indeed the regime made the most of
the snub over their tightly controlled media, with one broadcast showing
Myanmar government officials outside her personal residence shouting to
her through a megaphone: "Mr Gambari wants to meet you."

The visit represented Gambari's sixth overall visit and fourth in the
aftermath of the regime’s brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led street
protests last year since replacing the previous UN envoy, Ismail Razali,
more than three years ago.

In November 2007, Gambari smuggled out and made public a letter from the
opposition leader that appealed to the country's military leaders to put
aside their differences with her and to work together on national
reconciliation for the sake of the whole country. The disclosure
infuriated the regime, who denounced her and Gambari in the state media
for weeks afterwards.

With Gambari's failure, Asian countries are expected to play a bigger
future role in seeking to influence the intransigent regime. The
international community, especially China, had exerted substantial
pressure on the junta behind the scenes to allow the UN envoy to visit the
country. He originally wanted to return to Myanmar before the constitution
referendum held in May despite the devastation caused by the Cyclone
Nargis the week before the poll was scheduled.

In recent months Indonesia has also been trying to develop an
international consensus on Myanmar at several high-level but informal
meetings at the UN in New York. Now a member of the UN Security Council
and an important ASEAN member, the Indonesians have taken a leading role
in trying to find news ways of exerting international influence on
Myanmar. Jakarta is also working closely with China, a permanent member of
the UN Security Council, and India to convince the junta they must make
their democratic roadmap credible to the international community.

"Myanmar claims to have a new constitution and these elections [planned
for 2010] will be multi-party elections, but what is important for us at
ASEAN is to ensure that a more credible process is taking place,"
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told journalists in Jakarta
earlier this week. Recently taking over as ASEAN's chair for the next 18
months, Thailand, a junta ally, will also look for ways to nudge the
junta.

Thailand's new Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag has just completed a two-day
visit to Myanmar. There is no doubt that Myanmar's roadmap featured
prominently during his talks with the regime. It is presumed he was given
a warmer reception and more candid briefing than Gambari received during
his more high-profile, and most likely, last visit.

Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British
Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in
Bangkok.

____________________________________

August 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Self-criticism and Burma’s democracy movement

While there have been no tangible political improvements 20 years after
the 8888 uprising, the thinking and ideas of the people have changed and
there has been open and outspoken criticism of the government.

This change in mentality could be said to be the most significant sign of
progress in the past 20 years.

But political analysts and journalists have said this level of analysis
and criticism should not only be directed against the military government
but should also focus on pro-democracy groups.

At the same time, some political activists are concerned that such open
self-criticism within the democracy movement is tantamount to “airing
one’s dirty linen in public” and is ripe for exploitation by the military
government.

DVB’s Htet Aung Kyaw asked Irrawaddy editor Aung Zaw, political analyst
Aung Naing Oo and elected National League for Democracy MP Khun Myint Tun
how far they thought this culture of criticism should apply to the
democracy movement.

Aung Zaw: “There are two parts to this discussion. In my view, the people
inside Burma – despite the oppression – are daring more and more to
express their opinions and are becoming more willing to say these kinds of
things to the outside media such as the DVB or BBC radio stations. It
shows how brave they are despite the massive oppression. I think this is
positive.

“At the same time, there is more communication between those inside and
outside. Before, when you made phone calls from abroad, as we are living
outside the country, they didn’t know whether we were with the governments
or the opposition or rebel groups. People didn’t dare to meet us or speak
to us. But the line between inside and outside is becoming more blurred
and that is a good thing.

“When we talk about criticism among the opposition and pro-democracy
people, it is mostly personal attacks. When it comes to the culture of
criticism towards each other, we are still weak in using facts and figures
and lacking the skills to make the other side hear us out calmly.

“But at the same time, if you look at bloggers, the internet, websites and
Irrawaddy publications, we have been looking at the weaknesses of the
opposition almost constantly. But it is still weak. At the same time, we
also see that this side thinks that they should be considerate to the
other side. This is because people who are now working in these
organisations were at one time involved in opposition groups themselves –
they are ex-activists, ex-student leaders, ex-students of 88 generation.
They have reined in their criticism and feel they should be more
considerate.”

Aung Naing Oo: “My view is that if there is no criticism, there can not be
much improvement. When it comes to criticism itself, it is not criticising
with closed eyes. One should accept it when it is done appropriately and
for the right reasons. In a word, it becomes necessary to have what is
termed “critical thinking” in which we have to think properly, deeply,
reciprocally. Therefore, at the 20-year point, if we say the movement has
not been successful for one year, two years, three years, 20 years, it is
necessary to think why it has not been successful. As far as this goes, we
are in a position where have to employ other people to “air our dirty
linen” instead of doing it ourselves. So we need to think about whether we
cannot accept criticisms or can’t be bothered to listen because we don’t
share our views.

“When it comes to the nature of conflict, if you see it in black and
white, there can be no solution. But within this conflict, there are also
shades of grey. Therefore, instead of just concentrating on the black and
white, if one could look at other nuances, people, subjects, interests
contained in the conflict more properly and inclusively, we will be able
to understand and see the criticism within a wider context.”

But many political activists believe this kind of public self-criticism
could serve as ammunition for opponents of pro-democracy groups.

Khun Myint Tun: “The main basis of democracy is transparency. The NLD has
policies. The first policy of the NLD is openness, honesty and mutual
respect. In order to be open, we must be able to criticise ourselves and
our organisation. But this criticism has to be constructive. Especially
among ourselves, we need to be disciplined and take care not to damage our
unity.

“We have to accept it if it is done in a spirit of improvement and
development, and we have to listen to it whether we like it or not when it
is done in this way. This is because everyone has individual strengths and
weaknesses. In order to build on our strengths and address our weaknesses,
we need criticism from within our community. We should not just ignore
these criticisms from our peers and do whatever we want. Criticism is
necessary for individuals and for the country. But, it must not be
excessive. For example, some people in the past have used the media to
carry out political attacks on one another. This is not good. One thing
that is necessary is to criticise logically from the top, within the
framework of the revolution.”

How could one criticise within the limits of the revolution? By
criticising the military government harshly and the opposition gently?

Aung Zaw: “In my view, compared to the past, [the opposition] has become
thick-skinned. This habit has been developed inside and outside [Burma].
Those who are under the military government are pushing the issue
imperceptibly. On the outside, those who were involved in the opposition
groups and their sympathisers in the media are doing the same for the
opposition groups.

“When we were writing in around 1996-97, they [pro-democracy groups] were
rather touchy about it. We heard, ‘We will sue you’ and so on. Some armed
groups even threatened our lives. But in this day and age, some are
becoming quite thick-skinned. We are seeing more self-criticism. Within 20
years, we see that there are more people who are criticising themselves.
Why did we lose? Where did we go wrong? What is happening to Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi? What is wrong with her strategy? What should the strategy of the
NLD be? We are seeing these questions more than before.

“I think it is healthy, but as I said before: are we criticising the
people, are we talking about the policies, are we talking with facts and
figures, are we doing it in an acceptable way, are we talking like adults
as much as we can? If we could increase that culture, if we could do that
among ourselves, be more precise and behave like adults, there could be
more maturity.”

Aung Zaw was himself threatened with a lawsuit ten years ago for saying in
an editorial that an exile government was impracticable.

Aung Naing Oo: “There is severe criticism of the military government. If
mistakes are made by opposition groups and activists and no one is allowed
to point this out – this is not the right thing. If we talk about the
faults of the military government while ignoring the faults of the
opposition, it doesn’t bode well for our country’s future prospects. In
2004, I wrote an article saying that the actions of the military
government and some opposition groups are quite similar and that it is
quite worrying. For this, some opposition groups criticised me. ‘Why did
you write this? This should not be written,’ I was told. Then, I asked
them, ‘Was what I said wrong?’ – ‘What you said was not wrong,’ was the
reply. ‘If it is not wrong, I will stand by my point,’ I said. Then, I
faced a situation in which our relationship deteriorated. Therefore, if
something is wrong, we need to point out the mistake for what it is.”

Khun Myint Tun: “It is useless to attack ourselves with chicken feathers
and others with rakes. Even when we criticize the SPDC, we need to
criticise it honestly on the basis of the revolution. It is the same when
we do it to each other, but we have to avoid actions that could destroy
our unity.

“In our view, during our revolution, if everyone in the revolution is an
analyst and there are no revolutionaries and political activists, it will
be useless. As we have people who really oppose, leaders and people who
take responsibilities, we also really need people to watch and criticise
these people. Just as in football we need not only coaches for footballers
to instruct them, we also need the spectators.

“Whatever it is, we accept and welcome criticism. But, in the Burmese
language, some people see the word ‘wayban’ [criticise] in a bad light. We
welcome and accept it if it is done in the spirit of improvement. But in
human nature, our subconscious doesn’t like criticism. I am the same way.
In my subconscious, when someone criticises me, I feel that that person
sees me in a negative way and so your conscience needs to accept the fact
that you need to accept criticism.”

What is the outlook for the future?

Khun Myint Tun: “When it comes to the limits of freedom, many things have
been said. Each person has a different idea of what the limits of freedom
should be. But as we love freedom, we welcome free criticism. We must also
practise accepting it. The more we can tolerate criticism, the more chance
for the emergence of democracy, that’s our view. But the people [of Burma]
regard broadcasters such as DVB as the voice of the revolutionary. As it
is, it is necessary to allow the free expression of views within the
boundaries of the revolution.”

Aung Naing Oo: “We are currently seeing people are criticising not only
the military government but also the opposition groups. We also hear
people criticising Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We are hearing endless criticism
of the military government. Inside the country, there are some people
whispering their opinions and others speaking out loudly. Some people are
bravely expressing their dislike of the military government to the
international newspapers.

“When we look back over the past 20 years, there has been considerable
openness and I think that’s a very good thing. Instead of keeping it
inside our hearts, if we can express it properly and openly, become more
daring in our criticism and think carefully about the subject of
criticism, and if necessary, make changes, then that will be a good basis
for the future.”

Aung Zaw: “That is the weakness of 8888, I think. [The] ‘I know how to do
it and I am right about everything’ [attitude]. I haven’t seen much in the
past twenty years. I observe people examining where it went wrong, what
could have been done with the right opportunities, how things could have
been handled better and so on. I think this is good. It takes a certain
time to reach the destination; 20 years is actually a fairly short time.

“We have to work harder to ingrain that culture in us, because, if you
look at neighbouring countries, we can see that their sense of democracy
is more mature than ours. Even then, people are still threatened with
lawsuits, murder and so on for making criticisms. In these circumstances,
how are we going to criticise each other? Are we going throw flowers at
each other? Or as I said before, are we going to attack each other
personally? Do we have the facts, the grounds? We need to think about
that. We need to assess whether we are saying it out of love or out of
personal hatred. If we can do that, we can reach our desired destination
in the future.”

____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

August 26, Open Society Fellowship Announcement

The Open Society Institute (OSI) announces a new fellowship to support
journalists, activists, scholars, policy experts and others to work on
projects that inspire public debate and shape policy.

The Open Society Fellowship is open to individuals from around the world
and focuses on four areas: National Security and the Open Society;
Citizenship, Membership and Marginalization; Strategies and Tools for
Advocacy and Citizen Engagement; and Understanding Authoritarianism. We
will also support a limited number of fellows whose projects fall outside
these areas but are germane to OSI’s mission. Fellows' projects may
include books, articles, documentary films and photography, online media,
and efforts to seed new campaigns and organizations.

Proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis and there are no application
deadlines. The fellowship does not fund programs of study or dissertation
research. More details are available at
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/fellowship.